Impasse
by Sardonic Kender Smile
Summary: “It doesn’t matter when he grows up!” she cried finally, with a surge of anguish. “I’m never going to get to see it, anyway!” /Ninian, Eliwood, Roy, and a great big argument./


_A/N: Whaaat? An EliwoodxNinian oneshot? Like I've never done THIS before. Anyway, it's nothing major, but it was awfully fun to write._

_(A minor note…please to be keeping in mind that up until the 18__th__ century, children were not seen as "children". They were just small adults that had to learn to ACT like adults as early as possible, most likely because of the high child mortality rate during those times. A bit of historical accuracy equals love.)_

* * *

_**Impasse**_

"Why are the days so long?" Eliwood moaned one night as he blew out the candles and slid into bed beside her, his head instantly falling to his pillow.

Ninian didn't feel that the days were long. She felt that the days were passing far more quickly than they usually did, disappearing like water trickling through her fingers no matter how hard she tried to cup her hands together. Her old sense of foreboding, a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time, had been prickling her scalp as of late.

No matter how long she slept, she always woke up tired. The mild illness that had passed earlier in the winter, which had afflicted most for only a couple of days, still kept Ninian coughing during the chilly mornings and nights, over a month later. Just the other day, her legs had given way when she tried to rise from her throne, and the panic in Eliwood's eyes when he helped her to her feet made her heart clench with guilt—he was unusually terse with people for the rest of the day, and she was sorry to have worried him so. She knew that her time with him was coming to an end, and was seized with fear whenever she stopped to think about that, which was quite often.

Still, she understood why this night, Eliwood might have felt that the seconds slipping away from her were moving too slowly for him…he was tired. Roy had finally learned to walk and to speak a few words (mostly "Mama" and "No!"), which had kept Ninian and her husband quite busy as of late, and Eliwood always had his duties as a marquess to fulfill on top of that.

She rolled over and began to stroke his cheek, trying to get him to relax—which was not an easy task. "Do you think Roy will come sleep with us again, my lord?" _Oh, that sweet little thing, so eager to be with us, I hope so, I hope so, I hope—_

"I hope not," Eliwood answered flatly. "I'm exhausted, and I know that you are as well—do you not find it hard to sleep with him kicking and squirming between us all night?"

"I love that," Ninian confided softly, curling up into a ball.

"He's going to have to stop, soon," Eliwood told her, wearily running his fingers through his crimson hair. "He's getting too big for this."

Ninian bit her lip against a swell of despair, but did not object. "I…I suppose so, my lord…"

"Besides." The silky, appeasing tone that Eliwood hardly used outside of the throne room was suddenly present in his voice as he leaned over her and skimmed his lips against her jaw. "Sleeping isn't the only thing that becomes impossible with Roy in here…"

His arms slid around her, drawing her close to him, and though she felt _far_ better in his embrace, she couldn't help but be somewhat surprised by this change in mood. "I thought we had agreed that we were exhausted, my lord…?"

"I've changed my mind." His voice brushed by her ear, making her shiver giddily. Ninian smiled as she closed her eyes, waiting for the weight of his lips—

"Mama?"

Ninian felt a sharp jolt go through Eliwood, and knew she had reacted in the same manner. She pulled out of his arms and peeked over the edge of their bed to find Roy there, his tiny hands clutching the bedskirts.

"Darling," she said fondly, "What are you doing awake? It's so late! Come up here and go to sleep, now." She reached down and lifted him into her bed. He flailed around for a while, trying to find a comfortable position.

"…Like I said," remarked Eliwood dryly.

Ninian giggled, burying her face in her pillow to muffle the fact. When she peeked up, curling an arm around Roy, she noticed Eliwood propped up on one elbow and simply watching her with fondness in his eyes.

"This isn't so bad," she whispered meekly.

Eliwood smiled tiredly and pushed back Roy's bangs as their son yawned widely. "No, it's not so bad. But it must end soon, for his own good."

Ninian was already drowsing by the time he was done speaking.

* * *

The nights after were harder. Lord and Lady Santaruz had arrived to discuss a potential revolt on the borderline, and Eliwood had been so busy keeping the peace that he hardly had time to spend with Ninian and Roy—and what little time he had, he _did_ spend with them, leaving any unfinished paperwork until the wee hours of the morning. Both Ninian and her husband had abandoned any hope of "changing their minds", as he had put it, when they should have been sleeping. They simply had no energy for anything. Eliwood was exhausting himself with hosting ambassadors and editing legislature, Ninian was exhausting herself with running the castle's affairs and hiding her increasingly frequent bouts of weakness from him, and Roy was exhausting them both by climbing into bed with them every night and wiggling around while they were trying to drift off.

"It's very late, my lord," Ninian murmured after a week of this, coughing into her fist. Eliwood was bent diligently over his desk, and the pathetic remnants of what had been a new candle earlier cast a feeble orange glow over his workspace. She paused for a moment, admiring the way the light defined the lines of his shoulders and arms, but realized that she was too tired to let her mind wander any further than that. Instead, she crossed the room to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "You should sleep now."

"But I'm not done," he protested weakly.

"Roy won't wait," Ninian informed him.

"Now, Ninian," Eliwood reminded, "We told him this morning that he is to stay in his own bed from now on."

"I doubt that he'll listen. So come along?" She kissed his shoulder through his thin cotton shirt before resting her chin upon it, waiting for him to finish penning a closing line. Finally he sighed and stood, leading her to the bed with him. Ninian was fairly sure that she hadn't had her eyes closed for more than a second when a familiarly adorable voice spoke up again:

"Mama."

She opened her eyes blearily and leaned over the side of the bed. Something shifted behind her, and she felt Eliwood lean over her so that he might also see his son. She was hoping that he would lift Roy up, since her arms felt so weak…but Eliwood did not move.

"Roy," he said wearily, "We told you that you can't sleep with us anymore. You have to go back to your room."

"Uh!" Roy made a little noise of protest and lifted up his arms, waiting to be picked up and settled into bed between his mother and father.

"No, Roy." Eliwood's tone of voice changed to something sterner. "You are a big boy now. You can sleep all by yourself."

Roy looked aghast, then slowly turned his gigantic, pleading eyes to Ninian. "…Mama?"

"Oh, Eliwood," she sighed, "What harm can one more night do?"

Her husband pressed his lips together, but finally gave a jerky nod to show his consent. Ninian smiled widely and found the strength to reach down to pull Roy into bed with her. He snuggled close right away, his tiny body so pliable and cuddly that Ninian considered forsaking sleep just to savor the experience of holding her son. _Roy, my little Roy…how much time do I have left with you? _

"This ends tomorrow," ordered Eliwood grumpily. Roy had already fallen into a deep, happy sleep. Ninian bit her lip to stifle a protest to Eliwood's words, and before she knew it she had fallen asleep as well.

* * *

The morning came far too quickly, and it was only the warmth of Roy in her arms that kept Ninian from bursting into tears as the strong, early sunlight stung her eyes.

She had been meaning to sit down and manage the castle's finances that day, but found that if she let herself rest for even a moment, she could not keep her eyes open. Instead, she forced herself to pace the halls, trying to find something useful to do. She knew that she couldn't return to her chambers and fall asleep…not while Eliwood was trying his hardest to prevent an insurgence. Ninian would have to try her hardest, too, lest Pherae herself become unstable as her marquess turned his attention to more far-reaching matters.

Still, even walking was hard by supper time…although it was very late by the time Ninian remembered supper at all. She had suddenly felt very light-headed on her way to the dining hall, and as she walked in, her knees wobbled and she fell hard against the stone doorpost. For a moment she felt nothing, simply numb and limp, but after a moment the pain finally came, flooding all down her right side. With a wince and no small amount of difficulty, she managed to right herself again and limp over to the long wooden table, thanking the stars that none of the servants scurrying about the hall had seemed to notice her sudden bout of dizziness.

Eliwood was nowhere to be seen. Ninian bit her lip—she knew that he tended to skip meals when he was stressed or had work to do, which was quite often, but she was worried for him all the same. He had seemed so drawn as of late, deprived of both sleep and food. Ninian ate quickly, intending to search for her husband after she was finished, her anxiety increasing with every passing moment. Eventually she simply shot out of her chair, accidentally jarring the table in her haste and causing a porcelain plate to be knocked from the edge. It smashed into pieces on the floor, and Ninian jolted at both at the sharp sound and at the sudden pain that shot down her right side again from bumping into the table. Before she could stop herself, she began to cry—at the shock, at her clumsiness, from the pain, for the ruined plate.

Servants were by her side in an instant, holding her hand and sweeping up shards of the tableware: "What is the matter, milady? Are you all right? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she tried to assure them as she hurriedly wiped her tears away. "I'm fine…I'm simply tired."

She returned to her rooms, intending to wash her face free of tearstains before bed, and found that Eliwood was already there. He stood at his desk, unmoving, his head bowed and his hands planted against the glossed surface.

"My lord?" she asked softly. "What is the matter?"

"My head is pounding," he whispered back, without looking up at her. "And my father's generation of politicians was never taught the word 'compromise', it would seem."

He uttered a dry sob then, pushing himself away from the desk and towards his wardrobe. Ninian was able to see that the rings beneath his eyes had darkened exponentially since the day before, and felt suddenly nervous—were the borderline disputes not going well?

"You look so weary, my lord," she choked out, feeling herself crumble with pity. She couldn't stand to see him in such a state, and hesitantly crossed the room until she stood at his side.

"I actually fell asleep on the throne this morning," Eliwood admitted, clearing his throat slightly and turning his face away. Ninian knew his mannerisms well enough to tell that he was trying not to blush. "My advisors had gone silent for just a moment, and…the next thing I knew, they were calling my name, and I was startled awake."

"Poor thing," Ninian murmured, and ran her hand down his arm. He pulled her into an embrace, whispering,

"Don't think that I don't know how you're faring, either. You've been very pale, as of late…"

"I just need to get more sleep," Ninian was quick to assure him. "Truly. I'm fine."

_But I won't be for much longer. And I can't bring myself to tell you that._

He frowned when a hoarse cough tore from her throat, regardless of her words. His grip on her tightened slightly, and he sighed as he said, "Well…come to bed, then."

Ninian tried to ready herself quickly, but her movements were too sluggish. Eliwood was fast asleep before she was able to slide into bed, although she lost her own consciousness before her head even touched the pillow. She was sure that not even a moment had passed before she was startled awake with the soft query of "Mama?"

The first thing she became aware of was that her eyes stung terribly. She closed them again, which only made it worse, and then realized that she also couldn't seem to draw a deep enough breath. She heard Eliwood moan from behind her, but didn't feel him move at all.

"Mama, Papa, up," Roy's little voice demanded amiably.

"No," said Eliwood softly, and propped himself up on an elbow. "Mother and Father are very, very tired, Roy. You need to go back into _your _bed."

"No wanna!"

"Darling--" Ninian tried to reason with her son, before her exhausted mind woke very slightly and she remembered her crusade to keep him beside her.

"Maaaama," Roy insisted. He tugged on the coverlet. "Up, up!"

"No," Eliwood ordered again. "Roy, go back to your room this instant."

"No, no, no!"

"Eliwood, please--" Ninian tried to protest, but he silenced her with a single look.

"Absolutely not. We've told Roy time and again that he must sleep by himself, and we must hold fast to our word. How will he ever grow up if he can't even stay in his own bed?"

"Paaaapa!"

Eliwood sighed deeply. "Son…everybody needs to go to bed, now. We've been very busy. And if your mother doesn't sleep well enough, she might get sick—we wouldn't want that, now, would we?"

"No," Ninian whispered, clutching at his shoulder, "Don't worry about me, I--"

"Roy, you aren't listening," said Eliwood, speaking in a firmer and slower voice. "It is time…for…bed."

"No, no, no, _no_!"

"Don't talk back like that, young man!"

"Eliwood--"

"_No_, Ninian! He has to learn! Roy, are you going to go back by yourself, or must I go with you?"

The child in question was busy staring desperately into Ninian's eyes. "…Please, Mama? Up?"

"Right, then," said Eliwood tersely, and before Ninian had realized it he had slipped out of bed and was headed towards Roy. He took their son firmly by the hand. "It's time to go to sleep now. Say goodnight to your mother like a good boy."

"No!" cried Roy again. His big blue eyes were filling with tears, and Ninian felt her entire body tense to see him that way. "Mama!"

"Eliwood, stop it!" Ninian cried, sitting bolt-upright. "Just let him stay!"

"We have to teach him, Ninian—there's no excuse for this kind of behavior!"

"He's not hurting anybody!"

"He's far too old for this! He needs to start acting like a man!"

"But he's _not _a man--he's just a little boy!" Ninian could feel her eyes prick with tears, as well.

"I didn't sleep with my parents when I was his age--I had grown up!"

_Oh, you've always been an old man in a young man's body! _she thought, but the words did not make it to her tongue. "Eliwood, you're being so hard on him…he's only a child."

"Being a child does nothing for him," her husband retorted angrily. "Do you want our son to grow up a coward? To be soft? To have other nobles take advantage of him?"

"I want him to stay with me!" she pleaded. The tears welling up in her eyes finally spilled over and ran, unchecked, down her face. _Please don't take away my little boy! I only have so much time with him!_

Eliwood sighed to see her weeping. "Ninian, please…you're not making this any easier…"

Roy turned his round little face to her, and she could no longer resist. She held out her hands for him, cooing, filled with maternal desperation, and felt a surge of relief when Roy snatched his hand from his father's grip and jumped into her arms.

Eliwood stiffened, his face paling with anger. "You're only spoiling him!"

"You don't understand!" Ninian insisted, burying her face in Roy's soft, scarlet hair.

"No, I don't!" hissed Eliwood. "I know what's best…my own father refused to spoil me, and rightly so, for that taught me the discipline I'd need to become Marquess Pherae, myself! The same holds true for Roy—such an upbringing can only serve him well. So why will you not listen to reason?"

"Just because it's the way that you grew up does not mean that it is the only reasonable way!" Ninian protested, feeling her lips quiver. She hated that Eliwood was unhappy with her…but Roy, she couldn't waste her time with _Roy_! She would have even less of that than she would have with Eliwood!

"Ninian," her husband said levelly, though she could tell that he was restraining anger beneath his calm tone, "Please trust me. He needs to go."

"You don't understand," she whispered again, clutching Roy more tightly.

"_You _don't understand--"

"It doesn't matter when he grows up!" she cried finally, with a surge of anguish. "I'm never going to get to see it, anyway!"

"Don't say that!" Eliwood shouted suddenly, blood rushing to his face. "Just stop it!" He took a single step towards her, and though she knew that he would never strike her, she couldn't help but flinch. His eyes were flooded with a desperate rage, and Ninian instantly began to tremble—she had never seen him so furious, had _never _heard him raise his voice that way!

"I-It's the truth--"

"_Stop_, I say! You're being irrational!"

_Irrational? _His voice broke on the word, oddly, but Ninian was positively indignant. How _dare_ he tell her she was being irrational—she, whose days were numbered? "I am not, my lord!"

"You are so!"

"Y-you're just being stubborn!"

His eyes flared open. "I _what?" _

"Horribly stubborn!" Ninian repeated, refusing to back down—to let go of Roy. Eliwood's eyes merely narrowed again as he snapped back his retort:

"That's better than babying our son because you want him to stay a child!"

Ninian gasped. "That's…y-you're being so harsh!"

"_You're_ just being difficult!"

"H-hard-headed--!"

"Ignorant--!"

"_Cruel_!"

"S_elfish_!"

Roy had begun wailing as she railed against Eliwood, as he shouted back at her. His words pierced her straight through until her entire body ached with remorse and self-loathing, but she couldn't back down. Her eyes were locked on her husband's, and though she could feel his gaze sear with an almost physical heat, she couldn't make herself unlock her arms from around Roy. Eventually she had to drop her eyes, shaking as she tried to shush her son—who was still crying loudly, only adding to the jarring chaos.

"P-please come back to bed, my lord," she begged in a whisper, not looking at him. "We'll wake up the whole castle with our yelling."

Eliwood crossed his arms resolutely. "I shan't return unless Roy is back in his own bed. I cannot budge on this matter."

_But neither can I. _Ninian couldn't let Roy go, especially now that he was crying—she wouldn't be able to bear it. She fought back a sob of despair at this impasse. "I…I think he should stay."

"He can't."

Ninian's anger made her attempt defiance: "He _shall_."

"Then I shan't," Eliwood returned icily.

"You don't have to," Ninian bitterly retorted, her voice but a whisper.

Eliwood abruptly unfolded his arms, clenching his fists at his sides. "Well, perhaps I'll just sleep somewhere else, then."

"Well, perhaps you should."

"Perhaps I will!"

"Fine!"

"_Fine_!"

Despite his words, however, Eliwood didn't move, and continued to glower and hesitate by the doorway. Roy was still wailing, hiding his face in the front of Ninian's nightdress, his small body heaving with sobs. She stroked his hair, warring with her tears as she whispered to Eliwood,

"If you're going to go, please go. You're making Roy cry."

"_I'm_ making him cry?!"

"If you would have just let him stay--!"

"Oh, of course!" Eliwood retorted sarcastically, uncurling a fist to gesture extravagantly towards the windows across the room. "Because having him grow up depending on his parents all the time will help him _immensely_ when his father the failure can't reach an agreement regarding the borders, and skirmishes keep breaking out, and his soldiers are dying, and this burden of politics comes to rest on his shoulders and his alone, because we will both be long gone! We'll see whether he cries or not _then_!"

The mocking tone had left Eliwood's voice, though the moonlight showed Ninian that his eyes were still glittering and his face was still contorted in fury. When she could only stare at him, unable to find a retort, he stormed out and shut the door firmly behind him. Roy continued to scream.

Ninian felt herself fold over, falling apart, away, into her fate. She didn't want to go before her husband and son. She didn't want to leave them. She wasn't ready…but in her haste to drink up as much of them as she could, she had only created more conflict. By the time Roy finally cried himself to sleep on her shoulder, Ninian was sobbing as well.

* * *

She woke in the middle of the night, her eyes sore and her cheeks laced with salt, feeling more tired than she had before she fell asleep. She reached out weakly, overtop of Roy's slumbering form, to find…nothing. The sheets beside her were cool and unwrinkled; her husband was nowhere to be found. Ninian felt tears sting her eyes again.

_I have to make this right._

Carefully easing her arm out from beneath Roy's head, Ninian slid out of bed and stood up. The cold night air rushed to meet her, and she shivered while she hesitated. How could she apologize to Eliwood without Roy having to go back to his room? Was Eliwood even awake, at this hour? Would he even accept her apology?

Ninian found that none of this mattered. She had to make amends…she loved Eliwood too much to stay angry with him, and she felt like her insides were still writhing in self-disgust from making him angry with her. She had never seen him so worked-up, thinking back on it—even his enemies on the battlefield had hardly been able to faze his calm and controlled demeanor. Why, then, was it that _she_—who loved him more than any creature could ever love another—was the one to provoke such heated anger?

_His father, the failure._

Eliwood's words echoed through her mind, and Ninian realized sadly that her husband was as angry at himself as he was with her. Surely many things had fueled their argument, as many on his side as on her own. She had kept her reasons for wanting Roy with her to herself, so it was no wonder that he had been angry—he hadn't understood. What went on in his thoughts that he didn't tell her, that she hadn't grasped?

_Perhaps too many of the world's arguments are mere misunderstandings_, she mused to herself as she left her chamber in search of Eliwood.

She found him in their salon, asleep on one of the white velvet couches they used when entertaining guests. A thin blanket—she recognized it as the green one she kept draped over the back of the couch, since it matched the curtains—was crumpled on the floor, presumably kicked off by Eliwood in his sleep. If he had been sleeping restlessly before, however, he was calm now…she watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest for a moment, tried to impress within her memory how the moonlight defined the contours of his face. She walked over to him slowly, as quietly as she could, and then sank down so that she was kneeling by his side.

"Eliwood," she whispered as she brushed her fingertips against his cheek. His skin was hot and soft from sleep. He stirred slowly and his eyes flickered open, seeming mildly surprised to see her.

"Ninian," he said. She stared into his eyes for a moment, trying to find a glimpse of sapphire within their inky depths, attempting to read him. His mouth opened, but the words that spilled out of her own were faster:

"My lord, I'm so sorry, I can't believe I—"

Eliwood quickly silenced her by shifting himself up on an elbow and pressing a finger to her lips. "No," he whispered, "it is I who should apologize."

Ninian shook her head fervently. "Not at all…I…this is my fault. I should have listened to you, my lord, I should have been wise enough to realize…"

She felt her eyes prick with tears of regret at her folly. She couldn't finish her sentence. Eliwood's face softened. His hand found hers; he tugged it gently and pulled her down onto the couch with him, wrapping his arms around her. Ninian had to press her body against his, since there was so little space on his makeshift bed.

"Realize what, Ninian?" he prompted her gently.

She buried her face in his shirt. "Realize…that…we have so little time together, and here I am, wasting it with bickering…"

She was weeping now, ashamed. His arms tightened around her.

"Perhaps it is a good thing for us to squabble every now and then," he mused quietly.

"A good…" Ninian raised her damp face to look at him, incredulously. "A _good_ thing, my lord?"

"Well, yes." He smiled kindly down at her. "If we can be so madly in love…and get into a disagreement…but still love each other just as much when the conflict is over—if not more so…is that not a good thing? That our relationship is made stronger by the obstacles we overcome?"

"I suppose," she whispered, "when you put it that way…"

His face darkened slightly, and his gaze shifted from her to the shadows behind her. He was silent for a long time.

"My lord?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he murmured back. "I never realized…I never stopped to think about _why_ you were never opposed to having Roy sleep with us. It makes sense to me now, and I am ashamed of the way I acted towards you."

"Oh, no," she was quick to protest. "The fault was all mine! You were entirely right, my lord, it is best that we don't spoil Roy. We want him to grow up strong. You are my husband, and my liege, and I should have listened to you—"

"No!" he cut her off, his voice soft with horror. "No, no! You did it because you love him! And I…I handled the situation poorly. I was just so…_terrified_. I was too weak to face the fact…"

He trailed off, staring deeply into her eyes. He touched her face with a reverence more akin to disbelief and then swiftly closed the distance between them to kiss her with a hard desperation.

"I am not strong enough or brave enough to accept that you will leave me one day soon," he gasped as soon as he broke away. "When I heard you speak of your fate, I…I couldn't stand it. I lost all control, and my temper fled with it. You frightened me, Ninian."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I…I-I'll never do so again. It's just…I was so desperate to keep him with me…I will miss him so much…" There was a darker confession clawing at her throat, and she realized it fully as it forced its way out through her lips: "I _knew_ that acknowledging my future would provoke you. That's…why I said what I said."

_Selfish! _Eliwood's harsh words rang again in her mind, and she felt tears sting her eyes as she realized that he was right. _I was horrible, prodding his feelings like that. Why can't I just accept my own fate? It was my decision, after all…I must be strong enough to love Roy while I'm here, and to begin to let him go so that he can grow up when I'm gone. I was too self-centered to accept that. Poor Eliwood…he's had to deal with this from the start!_

"I-I'm sorry that I'm so selfish," she whispered, feeling almost ill with shame, and failing spectacularly at holding back her tears. "I'm sorry. I'll try hard…I'll do my best to keep my faults in check, so I never make you angry again!"

"Selfish?" Eliwood asked gently, one of his hands trailing down the length of her hair. "You aren't selfish in the least. Where did you get such an idea?"

She had to bury her face in his shirt, hoping to hide—even from him. "Y-you said so, my lord, wh-when we--"

She felt his gasp as much as she heard it, and the way he clutched her to him until her bruised right side began to throb made her cease speaking.

"Oh, Elimine," he breathed, his voice breaking, "No, Ninian, I didn't mean that! What I said…it was just impulse, just due to the heat of the moment—"

"No, it's true," she wept. "You wouldn't have said it if it couldn't be true."

"Of course it can't be true," Eliwood assured her softly, loosening his embrace slightly. "I wasn't being reasonable. Oh, Ninian, I'm so sorry…" He lifted her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Look at me—you are _not _a selfish person. Or ignorant, or difficult, or whatever else I might have said. I was…angry. And frightened. I don't think clearly when I feel that way."

"Nobody does," she said weakly, trying to console him, but he still looked wracked by guilt. She was starting to feel the same way—what had she said to him without meaning it? _Harsh, hard-headed, cruel…? But he is none of those things! _"Please, my lord, you must know that I didn't mean any of what I said, either--"

Eliwood cut her off once more by kissing her brow. "No more apologies—I can already feel yours in your heart. Can you feel mine?"

She finally relaxed, pressing her ear to his chest until she really was aware of his heart—and not just his pulse, but also the arms around her, and the lips against her hair, and the sweet words he had just uttered, still resonating in her ears.

"I can," she murmured.

He touched her face, coercing her to look at him again. "Ninian, you know that I think you're wonderful—the most wonderful person to ever live. I'll listen to you more, in the future, especially when Roy is concerned…and I certainly won't let fear govern the precious time I have left with you."

She smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek, in turn. "And I won't ever let you worry that you'll fail at making peace. I _know_ that you shall, my lord…so please, don't worry. Roy will not have to inherit your burdens, and soon, you will not have to bear them, either."

Eliwood stared into her eyes for a long while before he finally smiled back and pressed his brow to hers. "I love you, Ninian—always. You know that, don't you? Even when I'm angry and I say terrible things?"

"I know," she whispered back. "And I feel the same."

She fell asleep like that, held tightly to his chest on the couch, and the rest of the night passed by quietly and uneventfully.

The two woke the next morning to the dismayed screeching of little Roy, who had discovered that he had spent the night by himself after all.

* * *

_A/N: How to explain myself this time. Well, basically, I've always really wanted to write a fic where Eliwood and Ninian get into a fight. They're both just too perfect, sometimes…I mean, there's more to a relationship than unconditionally forgiving someone—no questions asked—for slashing you open with a gigantic sword, or considering it a given that after the final battle, you're going to scoop your girlfriend right up and marry her. No marriage is perfect, after all—not even Eliwood and Ninian's. To assume otherwise is unrealistic and…not very smart, really._

_So, that's why I wrote this fic. I just wanted to see if I _COULD_ make Eliwood and Ninian have a serious argument (and I'm still not sure if I pulled it off correctly). I was really tempted to make this a modern-day AU, because that would have been a lot easier—heck, there's examples of married people today fighting all the time, right?—but figured that IF I could pull this off, it'd be better in the Fire Emblem world. Just to get my point across. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know what you thought…otherwise, I hope you enjoyed it! _


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